H&M Shinjuku Opening Day Pictures & Video

On Saturday morning, November 14 2009, the fourth H&M store in Tokyo opened its doors in Shinjuku. TokyoFashion.com covered the grand openings of both H&M Harajuku and H&M Shibuya, so we weren’t going to miss this opening – even if it was a bit rainy and cold.

As with the H&M Harajuku opening last year, the Shinjuku store opening was timed with the release of a special designer collaboration. This time around, the collection released on opening day was Jimmy Choo for H&M. So besides the excitement of the grand opening of a massive new store in the heart of Shinjuku, people also had a chance to get their hands on limited edition Jimmy Choo shoes and clothing.

Do you suppose that a grand opening timed with the Jimmy Choo release might mean there was a line before the store opened? Well, you suppose correctly! People started lining up sometime around midnight – twelve hours in advance. We walked the entire line, and we estimate that there were more than 500 people waiting to get in when the doors finally opened at noon.

This new H&M location differs slightly from the other Tokyo stores in what they stock. H&M Shinjuku has a wider selection of menswear. Also, they carry the H&M children’s clothing collection and the H&M underwear line. The store is four floors including the B1F (basement) floor. Total floor space is said to be almost 30,000 square feet. The building itself isn’t as impressive from the outside as the massive glass Ginza and Harajuku locations, but it’s nice enough and on par with the Shibuya location.

So, now you know everything you ever wanted to know about H&M Shinjuku. Maybe you’d like to see some pictures from the opening? We walked the entire line – which ran from Meiji Dori all the way down the block and around the corner to one of the Shinjuku Sanchome metro station entrances – taking pics of some of the nice people, H&M staff, and security. As usual with H&M Japan, this opening was well organized and everyone involved was very friendly and helpful. Enjoy the pictures and video. You can enlarge any of the photos by clicking on them.